3. America's famous aviatrix Amelia Mary
Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 at her
grandparents' home in Atchison, Kansas. Her
grandfather, Alfred Otis was one of the
leading citizens of Atchison. Amy
Earhart, having suffered a miscarriage in an
earlier pregnancy, returned to her parents
home to await the birth of Amelia. Her
father, Edwin Earhart remained with his law
practice in Kansas City during this period. A
sister, Muriel would be born 2 1/2 years later
4. Her father Edwin, was well-educated, but tended
to the impractical; money just slipped through his
fingers. His in-laws, the Otises, helped him out a
lot (including taking care of Amelia), but Edwin's
extravagance remained a problem.
5. Amelia was more in control of her
own destiny, she did very
well, keeping a grade point average in
the high eighties, with a curriculum
including Latin, German, and
Physics.
In her three semesters there, Amelia
played field hockey, studied
Shakespeare & Latin, and attended
concerts of the Philadelphia
Symphony.
6. Amelia Earhart was responsible for the
destruction of his marriage in 1929.
After his divorce, Putnam actively
pursued Earhart, and eventually fell in
love with her. He asked her to marry
him on several occasions, but Earhart
declined. Finally, on February 7, 1931,
they were wed in Putnam's mother's
home in Connecticut.
7. A week later, Amelia met with George Putnam
in New York. George was said to have been so
impressed by her at the meeting that he
decided Amelia should be the woman to make
the flight. Amelia accepted the offer although
she would only be a passenger on the flight.
8. Amelia having the official title
of "commander" of the flight.On
Sunday, June 3, 1928 after
waiting several days for the
weather to clear, the Friendship
left for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Bad
weather conditions again
delayed the flight out of Halifax
till June 18
9. She took her first ride in an airplane in 1920.
After her flight with barnstormer Frank
Hawks, she said "I knew I myself had to fly."
Indeed, within a few days, she took her first
flying lesson, in a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. Six
months later, she bought her own airplane, a
yellow Kinner Airster, that she dubbed "The
Canary." Like Gabby Gabreski.
10. In April 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call
from Captain Hilton H. Railey, a pilot and publicity
man, asking her, "Would you like to fly the Atlantic?"
In a heartbeat she said "yes." She traveled to New York
to be interviewed, and met with project
coordinators, including publisher George P. Putnam.
Soon she was selected to be the first woman on a
transatlantic flight ... as a passenger.
11. She became the first woman to fly across the
Atlantic on June 18-19, 1928. The flight was
the brainchild of Amy Guest, a
wealthy, aristocratic American expatriate
living in London. Aware of the huge
publicity that would accrue to the first
woman to fly the Atlantic, the 55 year old
12.
Amelia decided since the next attempt
would be later in the year, that it would be
safer to reverse the original flight plan and
fly eastwards due to weather conditions in
the Caribbean and Africa.After delivery of
the rebuilt Electra, Amelia departed from
Los Angeles, California for Florida on May
21, 1937.
13. On June 1, 1937 Amelia and her navigator Fred
Noonan departed Miami, Florida bound for
California by traveling around the world. The
first destination was San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Amelia reached Lae in New Guinea on June 29.
At this point they had flown 22,000 miles and
there were 7,000 more to go...all over the Pacific.
Amelia cabled her last commissioned article to
the Herald Tribune.
